Episode 735: Podcast Court is in Session
Date September 30, 2015 Summary Ben and Sam banter about Mike Trout’s punctuation, then answer listener emails about the fastest fastball, pennant-race anxiety, Rich Hill, shortstop studs, and a fantasy-league dilemma. Topics * Unhittable pitch speeds * Rooting for playoff tiebreakers * Rich Hill contract hypotheticals * Average baserunning speed * Long at-bats * Decline in rotator cuff injuries * Deciding on a fantasy baseball league tiebreaker * Improving shortstop talent Intro Sloan, "Right or Wrong" Outro 2Pac, "Only God Can Judge Me" Banter Sam discovered on Twitter that Mike Trout's mom and dad also put spaces before punctuation, but his brother and sister do not. Email Questions * Paul: "My wife asked me this question while watching Trevor Rosenthal try to close out Monday's game against the Pirates; how fast would a fastball have to be in order to be considered literally unhittable? I thought what a silly question, followed by, I know just the guys to ask." * Brandon: "Not that my wishes have any say in the end result, but is it wrong for me to wish for baseball chaos AKA a four way tie between AL West and second wild card teams that would result in numerous tiebreaker games before the eventual AL Wild Card game? I guess another way of asking this is, I wouldn't want for someone else to wish that I would enter a stressful work situation for their amusement, and so that I can post about it on Facebook and Twitter. Why should I wish such a fate upon anyone else? I know that baseball in general is merely distracting us from our inevitable deaths, and any added excitement is indeed a welcome distraction. I just can't help but feel that I'm hoping for something that's unduly stressful, tiresome, and ultimately frustrating for these people that are going out to play baseball in no small part for our (the fans) entertainment." * James: "What is the cost to sign Rich Hill right now? A stupid to me article in the Herald suggested signing him to an incentive laden contract for next year. Maybe but would think he can get $6-10 million guaranteed plus incentives? If a WAR is worth $8 million as I heard somewhere, I'd even think someone might wrap him up for a couple years, $10-15 million and he gets security and a team gets a chance at the five win outcome. He really has been unbelievable these past few starts, what do you think? What would you sign Rich Hill for right now?" * Nate (Minneapolis, MN): "A couple weeks ago in San Francisco, Wellington Castillo hit into a 6-2-3 double play. Obviously he's slow. What's the average major league time to first? What's the slowest time that would be playable? What percentage of non ball players between 20-30 are as fast as the average major leaguer? I'm curious about this because speed is the least specialized tool." * Mark: "Whatever happened to rotator cuff injuries? It seemed that in the 80s and 90s we saw a lot of pitchers go down with rotator cuff injuries. Now it's all UCL replacement surgery and you rarely see a rotator cuff injury. Has something changed? Were rotator cuff injuries misdiagnosed?" * Listener Stan writes in asking Sam to serve as the arbiter of a dispute in his baseball fantasy league (Sam does not read the email). In the League Championship there was a tie. The league constitution, which had been agreed upon by all participants, states that in case of a tie the winner was the team with the fewest points scored by their bench. However the league's settings are set up so that the winner of the tie is the team with the most points on their bench. Each player claims that they should be the winner, and Sam is asked to decide. * Nick: "For the last several years the best shortstop in the game has been Troy Tulowitzki, but is he still? Have players like Xander Bogaerts or Brandon Crawford surpassed him?" Play Index * Sam used the Play Index to look at all pitches that reached a 3-2 count and involved up to 16 pitches. * 3-2 counts overall have a slight advantage to the hitter. * Sam found that the longer the at-bat goes on, the greater (in terms of run expectancy) the advantage to the hitter. Notes * Ben and Sam previously discussed Mike Trout's use of spaces before punctuation in Episode 657 and Episode 669. * Alan Nathan writes that if an elite batter started his swing as a pitch were released, he theoretically could hit a 250 MPH pitch. However in order to have some reaction time, he thinks close to 125 MPH is the realistic limit. * In Episode 289 Ben and Sam discussed the MLB contingency plans for four team playoffs (or greater). * Sam says that he would sign Rich Hill for 3 years and $30 million. This is the first of many times that Sam would update what kind of contract he would offer Rich Hill. Ben says 1 year and $10 million. * Ben adheres to a strict interpretation of the constitution, and thinks that it should be followed. * Sam thinks that it is clear that the constitution was not written as intended, and invalidates the first tiebreaker. He rules that the second tiebreaker will determine the winner. * Ben and Sam discussed the decline of offensive shortstops in Episode 705. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 735: Podcast Court is in Session * At Least All These Tommy John Surgeries Aren't Rotator Cuff Surgeries by Rob Arthur Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes